Greens accuse de Burca of EU job threat

Junior coalition partner the Green Party today accused former senator Deirdre de Burca of threatening to damage the party if she was not given a senior EU post.

Deputy leader Mary White hit back at the criticism Ms de Burca levelled at the party as she announced her resignation yesterday and claimed her decision was instead motivated by the fact she had lost out on the European job.

Resigning her seat after two years as a senator, the one time Wicklow councillor said the party had lost its way and claimed leader John Gormley had allowed Fianna Fail to renege on pledges it gave to secure his place in the partnership government.

But in a letter to party members, Ms White hit back alleging that Ms de Burca had left because she was overlooked for the position in the cabinet of Ireland’s new EU Commissioner, Maire Geoghegan-Quinn.

“It is a simple fact that Deirdre’s behaviour was driven by her failure to secure a senior EU post in Brussels,” she wrote.

“It is less known that she threatened John Gormley and her party colleagues that she would set out to damage the party if she did not get that job.

“For the past two weeks, she has stayed away from parliamentary party meetings and communicated a number of threats and deadlines to her colleagues.

“It saddens me to say that I have found her behaviour to be deplorable.”

Ms White said the Green Party and Taoiseach Brian Cowen had been supportive of Ms De Burca’s bid to join Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn’s team.

But she said the commissioner had decided not to appoint her and that everyone had to accept that decision.

Ms de Burca was not available for comment tonight.

Yesterday in a withering “Dear John” letter to Mr Gormley, she said the Greens has lost their way, were clinging to power and running scared of the electorate.

“I believe that we have gradually abandoned our political values and our integrity and in many respects have become no more than an extension of the Fianna Fáil party,” she said.

But Mr Gormley hit back: “It’s entirely without foundation.

“We are united as a parliamentary party. We are united as the Green Party and we received an overwhelming endorsement from our party members.”

Ms de Burca’s departure is seen as a further damaging blow for a small party decimated in the local and European elections last summer – 15 of its 18 councillors lost their seats.

The Green Party leadership has faced severe criticism from its members and supporters since it entered into a coalition government in 2007.

Just over a year ago three councillors quit amid claims of a growing split between the leadership and grassroots.

Ms de Burca’s letter added: “It would appear that holding on to office and to seats have become more important to the party than holding on to its fundamental political purpose.

“We have lost our way as a party and I am sad to say that it has reached a point where I, and most of the people I know, will be unable to vote Green in the next election.”

Ms de Burca’s resignation is the second shock departure from politics this week.

On Monday journalist-turned-politician George Lee announced he was quitting the Dáil less than nine months after being elected.

The Dublin South TD, who won the seat for Fine Gael last June, said he was stepping down because he has had little impact on the opposition party’s economic policies.